Slack-take-up for car-brakes



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.:

(No Mo-del.)

H. HINCKLEY. SLAGK TAKE-UP'FOR GAR BRAKES.

Patented-May 2, 1893'.

(N Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v H HINCKLEY SLAGK TAKE-UP FOR GAR BRAKES.

10.496,607. Patented May 2., 1893'.

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HE Nonms mznspo. novo-Unio.. wAsHpNnroN. nl av UNrTED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

HOWARD HINOKLEY, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.-

SLACK-TAKE-U P FOR CAR-BRAKES.'

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,607, dated May 2,1893.`

Application filed October 10, 1892. Serial No. 448,341. (No model.)

To LZZ whom it' may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD HINCKLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slack-Take-Ups forCar- Brakes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.4

The present invention has for its object to simplify and otherwiseimprove the construction of slack take-up devices illustrated anddescribed in Patents Nos.475,014 and 475,015, granted to me May 17,1892.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a perspective view of myimproved take-up and its connections. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of theoperating arm. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the arm, and Fig. 4is atop View of the same. Fig. 5 is an under side view of the pawlcarrying detent. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. l,the operating arm being in position for automatically taking up slack.Fig. 7 is a similar view, the arm being in a position for reversing theturn-buckle, and Fig. 8 is a detail of the cam for Working the operatingarm.

Similar letters denote correspondingr parts in the several figures.

vReferring to Fig. l, A indicates the spring board or plank of theordinary truck frame.

.B is the rod forming the usual connection between the brake levers.This rod is formed in two parts or sections, b b', as illustrated in myformer patents. The adjacent ends of the sections are screw-threaded,and the parts are connected together by a sleeve C, havingcorrespondingly threaded ends and constituting a double turn-buckle, thesame as before. The form and construction of this turn-buckle is in allrespects like that more fully illustrated and described in the abovepatents, and I will not further describe it herein, except to say thatit is a sleeve composed of a piece of pipe or tubing having solid endswhich are tapped to receive the threaded ends of the sections of therod, caps c, c being secured to the ends of the sleeve to cover andprotect the exposed parts of the screw threads on the rods. Securedrigidly upon this connecting sleeve about midway of its length, are tworatchet wheels or disks c', c, the ratchets or teeth on one wheel facingin the opposite direction to those on the other. The object of theseratchet disks is to permit the turning of the threaded pipe or sleeve ineither direction, as may be required in order to shorten up theconnecting rod to take up slack, or to 6o let out the rod to reset thebrakes or renew the shoes. For the'purpose of operating upon theseratchet disks an arm D is swiveled upon the sleeve so as to be freelyoscillated, said arm carrying pawls for engaging the respectiveratchets, as will presently be more specifically described.

In my former patents the connection between the arm and its operatingcam is such that it is necessary for the workman to get 7o under the carand release the arm before it can be worked by hand to reverse thesleeve, and the pawl and ratchet connection between the arm and thesleeve is not so compact, strong or simple as the present, and is more-7 5 over exposedto injury and the effect of dirt and water, snow, ice,&c.

In the present improvement I do away with the spring which holds theratchet operating arm up to the cam, and arrange the cam un- 8o der thearm so that the arm rests loosely upon the upper surface of the cam, thearm being weighted so as to fall by gravity when it slides down theincline of the cam as the rod moves to release the brakes. I alsoprovide a case or housing for the pawl and ratchet mechanism, and, inlieu of the two separately pivotedpawls, use a single detent providedwith rigid pawls, the detent being Weighted so as to throw the pawlsalternately in or out 9o of engagement with the respective ratchets asthe arm is shifted from one position to another, as will presently bedescribed in detail. The arm I) is preferably formed as asingle casting,having at its inner end a cup-shaped shell or casing E, as shown inFigs. 1 to 4, the casing being rectangular in horizontal section, asindicated more especially in Fig. 4, and having a closed bottom andsides, and an open top. A cover, as e, ts over the top of roo the casingand is removably secured in place by bolts b passing through the iangededge of the cover and the wall of the casing, though any other suitablefastening may be employed. The arm is swiveled upon the sleeve C seas toturn freely thereon, as explained, the side walls of the casing formingthe bearings, and the casing is arranged to inclose the ratchet disks soas to form a covering or housing for the same, concealing and protectingthe parts. In the upper part of the casing, overhanging the ratchetdisks, a pawl carrying plate or detent F is mounted so as to turn freelyon a piv'ot pin p. This detent is constructed as shown in Figs. 4@ and5, being in the form of aplate with a sleevelike bearing at one end, andhaving` rigid pawls d and d arranged on opposite sides of the pivotalpoint and located in differentvertical planes, as shown in Fig. 5, sothat the pawl d will stand over the ratchet c and the pawl d willoverlie the ratchet c. It will be understood from this constructionthat, when the arm D is in the position represented in Fig. 6, the pawld will engage the ratchet c', and, when the position of the arm isreversed, or thrown over to the opposite side of the rod, as shown inFig. 7, the pawl d will be thrown by the gravity of its detent intoengagement with the ratchet c, the pawl d being meanwhile disengaged.

Referring to Fig. 1, G and G are brackets secured to the spring plank A,and depending so that their horizontal arms lie lengthwise orsubstantially parallel with the connecting rod B on opposite sidesthereof and in about the same horizontal plane. The purpose of thesebrackets is to support the arm D, and hold it up in either of its twopositions. The horizontal arm of the bracket G is provided with aninclined cam'I, which may be formed integrally with the bracket, or maybe cast separately and bolted thereto, as shown in the drawings. In theoperation of the brakes, the connecting rod travels lengthwise to andfro between the brackets, earryingthe turn-buckle and the swiveledratchet operating arm. The movement of the rod in applying the brakescarries the arm D along the horizontal part of the bracket G and up theincline of the cam, the distance which the arm climbs up the camdepending upon the amount of slack in the brake connections. When thereis no slack in the system, the arm travels to and fro over the flat partof thebraeket, but, as the shoes wear away, or as the slack increasesfrom any other cause, the arm begins to ascend the incline more and moreat each operation of the brakes until the ratchet d (which in thisposition of the arm engages with the advancing ratchet c) finallycatches in a new tooth of the disk. Upon the release of the brakes, thearm travels down the ineline of the cam, and the present arrangement issimilar to my former construction in that the ratchet and sleeve areturned as the arm is leaving the cam, and when there is but little ifany strain on the rod. To insure the turning of the ratchet by the armin this improvement, I provide the arm with a heavy weight J, whichsteadies the arm and holds it down on the bracket, and at the same timepermits its ready disengagement from the cam when it is desired toadjust the connections by hand.

When the shoes are worn out, and it becomes necessary to replace or torenew them or any of the -other parts, the connections must be restoredto their original length. As before stated, it was necessary with theold arrangement to get under the car and release the spring connectionbetween the cam and the ratchet operating arm before this could be done.In the present improvement, however, the arm is free to be lifted fromthe cam, and it is only necessary to reach under the car and throw thearm off the cam over upon the bracket on the other side of the rod. Io

facilitate this I provide an eye or staplefon the end of the arm, intowhich the train-man may catch a hooked rod or other convenientimplement. When the position of the arm is thus reversed, thepawlson thedetent F change places, as before explained, the weight of the detentthrowing the pawl d into engagement with its ratchet. When in thisposition the arm may be oscillated as indicated in dotted lilies in Fig.'7 for the purpose of unscrewing theturn-buekle. The bracket G is mainlyfor the purpose of holding up the arm and preventing it from fallingentirely over. It is incidental to the use of this bracket, however,that the slack adjuster may be thrown out of action if desired withoutinterfering with the operation of the brakes, as the arm would then playto and fro over the horizontal arm of G without being operated.

The present invention is susceptible of considerable modification, and Ido not intend to limit myself to the details of the construction hereinillustrated. As in my former patent, so in this, the turn-buckle may bea single one if preferred. The casing may be constructed and mounted inany preferred manner, and the brackets may be hung from any other partof the truck frame.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a slack adjuster for railway brakes, the combination of aconnecting rod, a turnbuckle connected therewith, a pivoted, weighted,operating arm for the turn-buckle, and an underlying cam for working thearm, the cam being fixed with relation to the movement of the rod, andthe arm being arranged to rest normally upon the cam, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a slack adjuster for railway brakes, the combination of aconnecting rod, a turnbuckle connected with the rod, a pivoted,weighted, operating arm having a pawl and ratchet connection with theturn-buckle, and a fixed cam for working the arm, the arm and cam beingarranged so that the arm rests nor mally upon and is operated in onedirection 'IOO IIO

by the cam, and the arm being free to be disengaged from the cam so asto be worked by hand, substantially as described.

3. In a slack adjuster for railway brakes, the combination of aconnecting rod, a turnbuckle connected therewith, a pivoted, weighted,operating arm, pawl and ratchet connections between the arm and theturn-buckle, and a cam underlying the arm for working the same in onedirection only, the arm resting normally in working position upon thecam, and free to be disengaged therefrom so as to be worked by hand, andthe pawl and ratchet connections being arranged so that by throwing thearm from its Working position on one side of the rod to a position onthe opposite side of the same one of the pawl and ratchet connectionswill be disengaged and the other will be thrown into action,substantially as described.

4. In a slack adjuster for railway brakes, the combination of aconnecting rod, a turnbuekle having oppositely facing ratchets, anoperating arm, and a weighted detent pivoted on the arm, said detenthaving reversely set pawls on opposite sides of its pivot, substantiallyas described.

5. In a slack adjuster for railway brakes, the combination of aconnecting rod, a turnbuckle, an operating arm, a pawl and ratchetconnection between' the arm and the turnbuckle, and a case or housingfor concealing and protecting the ratchet, said casing being integralwith the inner end of the arm, and having the removable top or cover, ase, substantially as described.

6. In a slack adjuster for railway brakes, the combination of aconnecting rod, a turnbuckle, an operating arm, a ratchet fixed upon theturn-buckle, a shell or casing integral with the inner end of the armand surroundiugand protecting the ratchet, a crossfpin fixed in the sidewalls of the casinga pawl pivoted on the cross-pin, and a removablecover permitting access to the pawl and ratchet connection,substantially as described.

7. In a slack adjuster for railway brakes, the combination of aconnecting rod, as B, a turn-buckle, as C, an operating arm, as D, apawland ratchet connection between the arm and the turn-buckle, a caseor housing, as E, for concealing andprotecting the connections, a fixedcam, as I, upon which the arm rests normally in working position,y and aweight, as J, carried by the arm, substantially as described.

S. In a slack adjuster for railway brakes, the combination of aconnecting rod, a turnbuckle connected therewith,a pivoted,weight ed,operating arm having pawl and ratchet connections with the turn-bucklewhereby the latter may be operated in either direction, a cam underlyingthe position of the arm on one side of the connecting rod, anda bracketarranged in corresponding position to that of the cam on the oppositeside of the rod, the arm resting normally in working position upon thecam and free to be disengaged therefrom and thrown over upon thebracket, and the pawl and ratchet connections being arranged so thatwhen the arm is working upon the cam one of the said connections will beengaged, and when the arm is thrown over upon the bracket the otherconnection will be engaged, the4 former being thrown out of action.

In testimony whereof IafX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HOWARD HINCKLEY. i

Witnesses:

F. B. STEVENS, J r., F. C. LowTHoRP.

